Pope Benedict XVI sends his first Tweet to bless followers

Pope Benedict XVI has sent his first Tweet with the head of the Catholic Church taking to the social site in order to bless his Twitter followers.

Having signed up to Twitter earlier this month under the handle @Pontifex, his formal Latin title, the Pope sent his first official Tweet today, December 12, thanking his new followers and blessing them via the 140 character limited Facebook rival.

“Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart,” the Pope wrote in his first Tweet.

Although taking a few days from registering his official account to sending his first Tweet, the Pope’s Twitter feed was faster acting with following Tweets, sending a further four Twitter based messages at the time of writing. Whilst the first Tweet is believed to have been sent by the Pope personally, all further messages are expected to be sent by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State following approval.

With over three quarters of a million followers at the time of writing, the Pope’s Titter feed is available in eight different languages in a bid to unite the Catholic faith and ensure all members are Catholic Chutch are able to enjoy the micro blogged content.

As well as the English and Italian based feeds, the @Pontifex Twitter account sends all messages in Arabic, French, German, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.

Far from the first time the Vatican has adopted modern technologies to spread the Pope’s words, in recent times the Catholic state has used both Facebook and YouTube for special services and events.

Are you an avid Twitter user? Have you followed the Pope or do you see his presence on Twitter as a belittling gimmick? Share your thoughts on the matter with us via the Trusted Reviews Twitter and Facebook feeds or through the comment section below.